Comic Book Talk (April 4)

Haven’t had a comic book thread in a while, so what the heck.

Obviously everyone is all about Avengers v. X-Men at the moment (or AVX as all the kids are calling it) but I’ve never been an X-Men reader and I only started following the main Avengers title recently, so I don’t have much emotional attachment to it.  The #0 and #1 issues do a good job of building up the Phoenix as a world-threatening force so that the stakes are certainly there, but I’m just not feeling it. 

What I DO love is Amazing and Avenging Spider-Man.  I am having such a blast with Dan Slott’s work on Amazing, and I love the “Peter working in a think tank” plot so much better than an outdated job as a photographer.  People say he should be miserable and angsty, but this is FUN and reminds me of the much-maligned Ben Reilly run where the clone was single and relatively happy as Spider-Man, and it was another favorite run of mine.  Plus Avenging #5, from the Hawkeye-defaced credits through Spider-Man annoying Captain America with nerd bonding during a mission (and the action shunted to the off-panel transitions in a hilariously off-hand manner), is probably one of the funniest comics I’ve ever read.  Not even “wacky funny” like Ambush Bug, just organically entertaining because the comic has Spider-Man’s voice down so well.  The two Spider-titles (and the solid Scarlet Spider) are becoming must-buys for me.  The time travel issues were awesome, and kept me going through Spidey In Space and now the big Ends of the Earth event that has also kept me hooked.  I can’t say enough great things about how these comics are delivering exactly what I want. 

Hulk #50 is a really good intro to Red Hulk, as it actually delves into how much control Ross has over the transformation (and how little Betty has over hers) and explains about Ross being less angry because Hulk offers him an awesome anger expression mode, leaving his human form calmer and younger-looking.  Plus the history of Rulk is recapped at the end of issue, catching you up really effectively.  I once again would like to point out that Marvel makes it SO MUCH EASIER for new readers, like myself, to catch up with storylines, and as a result I spend way more more money on Marvel comics now than I ever did before.  HINT HINT, DC.  You don’t need to reboot the line, just make things a bit less dense and labyrinthine.  I just find Red Hulk such a fascinating character, much moreso than the original Hulk.

I also find OMAC fascinating, and I’m quite sad that #8 was the end of the line, both for the title and for the mythos that the title had been building up in between giant fight scenes.  Basically Brother Eye and Cadmus all get wiped out, and Kevin Kho is now trapped as OMAC (but with his own personality) for good.  He’ll be moving to JLI, but that title is getting so dire that I’m probably not sticking with it much longer. 

Superman #7, the much-needed creative team swap to Jurgens and Giffen, was OK, but proved stronger when it was focused on Clark Kent’s work life than the rather tiresome action scenes.  I guess the problem I’m having with the reboot in general is that I no longer know who or what Superman is supposed to be any longer.  All three major books (Superman, Action and Justice League) have had three totally different interpretations of him and it just leaves me confused.  But that’s a common problem with DC these days. 

By the way, quick back issue recommendation, as I picked up the original Hush TPB recently, and LOVED it.  Unfortunate that the character got so watered down in later appearances, because Jim Lee and co. really hit it out of the park with the initial 12 part epic. 

Haven’t got to my favorite one-two punch of the month yet in Animal Man and Swamp Thing, but I don’t foresee either one letting me down any time soon.